back on the diet horse

melyhegedu

10 years ago I lost 25 lbs. on another online diet plan, but have of course gained it all back plus. Now I need to lose it again for the rest of my life. Love the message boards and want to join a challenge starting Sept. 1. Exercise is my biggest obstacle. I tracked my eating today and came out 350 calories in the red. I guess it could have been worse!

Good luck everyone and stay on plan this weekend!

Chunkabutt83

Good luck!!!

auntiebabs

Your trying to find a way to eat healthily for the rest of your life. You might not figure it out on day 1, give yourself a break, this will take some trial and error.

Here's how I started:

1) tracking for a couple of weeks before I worried about losing.
(although seeing what I was eating I couldn't help but rein back a bit)

2) seeing where I could make small changes on things that weren't that important to me.
(Don't even think of taking chocolate out of my diet!!!)
--Reducing quantities where I won't notice it so much
--Swapping out things instead of eliminating them.

3) Look at my diary and started adding foods that had positive healthy effects specifically for the health issue in my family.
I found most of the things I "should" add were really yummy too! salmon, avocado, oatmeal, mango, red grapes....
(Sort of think of food as medicine to deal with family history of various health issue oatmeal is good for heart health, mango and red grapes lower cholesterol, tumeric and cinnamon good for arthritis)

4) every couple of weeks I see where I can make another couple of small changes.
If you completely revamp your diet, it's way easy to revert to old ways in times of stress.
If you make a series of small changes, food still offers you some sense of comfort.
sort of a comfort continuum, and after a while the first small changes will seem comforting in themselves.
You don't have to be perfect you just have to do better.

5) also rather than being uberstrict with the target MFP set for me I did the math to find out the calories needed to maintain my goal weight and my current weight and I gave myself a range with 1200 as my rock bottom, lose 1 lb/wk as my target*** and maintain my goal weight as the top of my range. As long as I keep within in this range I'll lose. I tend to naturally zig zag my calories 3-4 at very close to my target and then a higher calorie day closer to the top of my range.

As long as I stayed under maintain my current weight calories I won't gain. So no need to throw in the towel, just pick-up where I left off.

Once I found ways to lessen the stress, I found it way easier to focus on the process and let the results follow. (It's what worked for me some people need the stress to get them motivated. Me I get scared and overwhelmed and don't see the big goal as acheivable. I only worry about it 1 lb at a time.)

I did have to take a break for a month due to a health scare, but otherwise I kept with the slow and steady approach. Took me 9 months (including the month off) At first I lost at the rate of about 3 lbs per month, but the closer you get to the goal the slower it goes. So be patient and hang in there.

***also once my lose 1 lb/week target was down to 1200 calories I switch to lose 1/2 lb/ week (1200 cal rock bottom, 1/2 lb/week as my target, maintain goal weight as the high end of my range.)

Food is not the enemy.
Oddly enough on my journey here I've reduced guilt over food.
I have the occassional treat and I fully enjoy it with no guilt involved.
The thing is since I'm not eating crap all the time the occassional treat is just that a TREAT it's special and I enjoy it so much more than when I was unconsciously shovel junk food into my face.

I figure if I've got a good plan that I can actually maintain I can keep this off for a long time to come, without feeling deprived.

Good Luck

micahnelson

Eating more than you need to is a psychological problem, at least it was for me. I was a secret eater, fourthmeal, food addict. I would get cash so I could eat without it showing up on the credit card. I would get food before I got food so I wouldn't look like I was eating as much at the table or around others. I was a total mess.

This was about a year and a half ago. I have lost 85 lbs and am closing in on my goal weight.

I had to have a gimmick to start the weight loss, a biggest loser contest at work. Maybe this gimmick will work for you. Do you have friends locally that you trust enough to lose weight with? Ie, is there anyone you would let look at your scale? There wasn't for me until I decided to do the contest- and I came to terms with the fact that I was really friggin fat. People seeing the number weren't going to be shocked. Hiding from the truth doesn't help. Be comfortable with the state you are in, not because it is good but because it is a first step. Accept yourself as a person who has gotten where they were by choice, and can choose to change. You are not helpless.

Then, I dropped some coin and bought a video game. I didn't exercise beyond just a little bit of walking once or twice a week. Instead of sitting on a couch snacking, I played a video game I really enjoyed. Controller based, nothing I could put down and grab cheetos or some such nonsense while playing. This made me happy, at least happy enough to not miss the smiling faces at the drive thru.

I dropped my calories SEVERELY. I ignored what people said about starvation mode and I ate as little as possible. The first few days were hell, then they got better. The secret to pulling this off (12-1600 calories a day for a 5'11 male) is to make sure EVERY CALORIE is full of food. Chips are not food. Bread is not food. It is a waste of calories. Think of calories like money. Chicken breast- lots of protien for very little calories. Wraps? Filling and low cal if you get the write ones. Veggies? BRING EM ON. For my it was sushi and sashimi. I had never eaten before and just decided f*** it- I'm a new person when not eat new foods. Its now my favorite thing to eat. Starvation mode, imo, is BS unless you are eating 1200 calories of Pepsi or something.

Drink lots of water... lots. If you drink while you eat you'll get naturally less water- so drink constantly. Green tea seemed to be an appetite suppressant. Did I mention drink lots of water? Drink it. Drink It!

You are going to be a year older. You could be 50lbs lighter, or you could stay the same. It is up to you. Accept your choice either way. If you find yourself on the couch feeling like a slug- don't feel like a slug. You chose to stay overweight. If you find yourself starving but at your calorie limit for the day, don't mourn it. You have chosen to lose weight. The hunger feels like the opposite of stuffing yourself because it is. Remember that time you had the whole bag of chips? Well payback is a *****.

But, then you'll start shedding tons of weight- because it really is calories in / calories out- and memebers of the opposite (or same, who knows) sex will start checking you out, not just because you look different but because you ARE different. You'll have confidence. You'll be a beast. You'll walk around with your head held high like you own every room you walk into- and let me tell you something- that feeling is waay waay better than a bag of fries, processed cheese food, or whatever other garbage I was trading my life for a few months ago.

Don't dread a diet, make it yours and redefine yourself.

melyhegedu

you guys are all amazing. thanks for sharing your stories and for the ideas and support.